


The Sword in the Stone

by WingedWhirlwind (LemonWhirlwind)



Category: Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:22:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28265352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonWhirlwind/pseuds/WingedWhirlwind
Summary: Cage had been in shedloads of time loops, but his previous loop had been bad. He was at a loss for words - and thoughts.
Relationships: William Cage & Rita Vrataski, William Cage/Rita Vrataski
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	The Sword in the Stone

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays 2020!

Cage turned around just in time to spot the incoming mimic. _Bring it!_ he thought, ducking at the last moment. Steel blades whizzed overhead, the sudden change of direction sending his enemy reeling with unbalance. This was the exact opportunity he had been waiting for. He skated more than sprinted towards the flailing arms and closed the final distance between them with a shoulder barge. The movement felt deeply mechanical, as did the sound that rang out. 

Cage had been in shedloads of loops, but his previous loop had been bad. He was at a loss for words - and even thoughts. It had been just that kind of bad that sent fear spiraling through him whenever he thought of mankind’s dark fate. The outlook for the future looked very grim. For the past time loops, he hadn’t been able to progress any further; he had run into a wall, and nothing helped - at least not the dented scrap of metal in front of him. Cage stared at the mimic, watchful, as if expecting it to suddenly spring back to life.

A voice came floating through the mist, the words sounding close to ‘Cage, you alright?'

The voice was familiar enough to prompt him out of his daze. Rita. Reality returned, along with the various background sounds. They were in the training room at the base, and it was day one - but not in a literal sense, because for him, it had been ages. And curiously enough, it felt like the overhead lightning grew harsher, and his muscles more tired, with each loop that passed. _The ravages of time_ , he mused. 

Cage looked up at Rita from where he was sitting. A sheen of sweat had gathered on his face, and he swept a hand across his forehead. “Yeah. I'm okay”.

Rita's inspecting gaze came up to his face before she gave him a noncommittal nod. 

While Cage was reliving each day, Rita was meeting him for the first time each day. And each time she was smart enough to piece together the reason he kept reliving the day. He did not know what he would do without her help. Truth was, after so many loops of utter confusion he had almost given up on finding someone like-minded. No one had believed him when he had tried to warn them of their utter and inevitable defeat, no matter how much foresight and irrevocable proof he had presented. But the message had been loud and clear; You had to pick your allies carefully. 

Rita sent him a questioning look when he did not get up immediately. 

"I'm fine, just winded", he replied, holding up his hand. At this, some unnamed emotion flashed across Rita's features before her face changed back to being as stern and calm as a Greek statue's.

Cage frowned slightly. Even after hundreds of loops of blood, sweat and tears she still remained a closed book to him. Over and above what the media had made public, he did not know much about her. Their loops together had not given him much either. Sure, he knew some trivial facts about her, but it was nothing extensive. She mentioned rarely, if ever, any names, and Cage suspected that the credibility wasn’t the best when she actually did. Rita Vrataski was very private, and she liked to keep it that way. 

With the help of Rita, he got up to his feet. Cage stretched slowly, deducing that - apart from his stiff neck - he was unscathed. But the invasion would fail tomorrow again if they couldn’t hinder it. If - _he_ \- couldn’t hinder it, to be precise. The gravitational pull on his exo-suit seemed to increase with each step he took. He had so many expectations to live up to, and paradoxically enough, expectations that no one had of him in the first place; of _Private_ Cage.

So yeah. Cage was a man with weight on his shoulders, but then again, it went without saying that even Rita had her mountains. However, the weight was barely visible beneath her steely demeanor, but he knew better. She was the poster soldier everybody knew the name of. Her face was plastered on almost every recruitment poster. There was not a single broadcast where her name wasn't mentioned. Cage pressed his lips together into a slight grimace. But Rita was persistent; she was like a steady cliff in a storm, not letting setbacks erode her confidence.

Rita leaned against her sword, ready for another round. “Should we try it again?”, she asked him. 

The whole world was counting on Rita to deliver a victory tomorrow. The United Defense Force was expecting a sure win. Even Cage himself had hinted at the same outcome during his various campaigns. But the truth was, the Angel had lost her wings; she had lost her divine power in the very same battle that came to symbolize her valor. The victory in Verdun had been humanity’s first ray of hope, and tomorrow's battle would be their endgame. Cage had wanted no part of the war, but destiny had willed it otherwise. And so, he had received the power of resetting that one fateful day over and over again. As if it couldn't get any worse...

Cage considered Rita’s offer to continue training, but eventually shook his head. "I'd rather spend the hour planning". And it was true. Their battle plan was growing increasingly longer and was getting more difficult to keep track of with each passing loop. As much as he would have liked to sharpen his combat skills further, he needed time to focus.

Rita seemed to agree with him because she answered with a curt nod and went to gather her items. Cage looked after her as she crossed the room. Her steps fell as lightly as when she walked without the weight of the exo-suit. Cage envied her. 

When Rita was done, Cage helped her replace the damaged mimics with new, functioning stand-ins. A silence had once again settled, and the only sounds were the clinking and clanking of metal as they worked, as well as the distant noise from the shooting range. Rita was a quiet person, or in her own words: not a fan of talking. If Rita wasn't a fan of talking, then Cage had to be the exact opposite. He was charming and had an aptitude for logic and reasoning. Skilled in influencing others with argument, it was no wonder he had climbed the ranks so high. Simply put, this major knew how to present matter in the most appealing way, and that’s what had made him so frightening good. Until the day when he had overstepped a boundary and thought that he could talk his way out of General Brigham's mad order of sending him to the front. It had not panned out well for him. But could he have chosen differently, though? A sharp whine interrupted his thoughts and he looked down. He had over-tightened a bolt and had to start over with the task. 

The lack of communication between them felt strange - almost uncomfortable. But then again, as much as the silence was a curse, it was also a blessing. Sometimes he did not feel like talking. As for now, the situation ahead was clear enough. Maybe loose and empty words weren’t needed.

He took a pause from working and tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling.

The whole concept of replacing the training mimics felt meaningless. Or rather, _taunting_ in a way he couldn’t quite explain. It was not that it was time consuming, because really, it wasn’t. The process from start to finish took hardly a couple of minutes. Neither had it to do with the complexity of the task, as the process was mostly automated. You did not have to be a mechanic or engineer to make the replacement. Unbolt. Remove. Replace. Bolt. Align segments, wait for a click, done. 

No. There was another reason why he was grinding his jaw, and that something was beyond his control. 

Cage drew in a long, shaky breath. All progress would soon be reset. Why bother with this hollow task? His reset power would soon make sure that everything was back to square one. A bleak English morning he had seen too many of. Duffle bags under his feet. A grey sky overhead. In less than 48 hours, the exact same training mimics he had defeated moments ago would again whirl across the room, - fully functional, and ever so ready to strike if you made a tiny, tiny mistake.

Rita seemed to have read his gloomy line of thought, since she stopped in her tracks and held his gaze. But then again, it was hard to tell if she had heard his thoughts or not. Did that look she was sending him mean anything? Was it understanding perhaps? Or something else? Cage tried to say something but found the words gone, and so he did not tell her, and she did not ask. The moment passed on. 

The outside air felt cold against his skin and he instinctively wrapped his jacket tighter around himself. Rita and Cage had left the training room and were heading for the barracks, the only place where they could plan for tomorrow without being interrupted. Another breeze swept through the airport tarmac, strong as the wide, open area offered little resistance. So far, the tarmac was empty save the sleeping horde of hovercrafts and drop-ships, but it was all to change the next morning. 

Cage fixed his gaze on the skyline as they walked, or rather, he set his eyes on the control tower stretching into the sky. The sun was almost absent behind all the grey clouds, but a tall shadow pointed nonetheless in their direction. Besides having acquired combat skills, Cage had also learned how to estimate time; a very crucial skill in time-looping. Trivial things like flagpoles or other tall and shadow-casting objects turned into bizarre sundials, and even the clouds moving across the apocalyptical sky predicted what would happen next. But Cage did not always need to know the exact time. Sometimes his gut feeling was nearly as accurate. Some details had simply been etched into his memory. They were there to stay. 

Cage fixed his gaze back on the large tower. It was almost afternoon, which meant he would be a bit late in his time-stamped schedule, but then again, he had lived through so many different scenarios, and he always wound up on the same beachhead in one way or another. They could be late. 

The room they had withdrawn to was a former workshop. Located in a remote area of the military base, it was the perfect secluded place to strategize in peace and quiet. Their plan for tomorrow; an abstract mess full of arrows and cross marks, filled the whole screen and had their attention anchored. Cage looked thoughtfully at the half-finished map. It was still missing some details. A frown appeared on his face, and he thought hard on his next move. It should not be this difficult for him to sketch out the map. He had done it so many times before, maybe even hundreds of times before; traced the lines and numbers, committed the figures both to his visual and to his muscle memory. Relieved the day so many times, to the point where he could present the chronology of events in meticulous detail. Or, should be able to at least... He shook his head. The arrows and lines. The dots and circles. They were all symbols marking the exact location of the enemy. Adding the missing details should not be this hard for him, but with every line he added, the pen grew heavier and heavier until it felt like a rod of lead in his hand. He stopped to shake out a cramp in his wrist before adding more details. 

Even though he had the advantage of foresight, he felt like he was still on the same old spot, not getting anywhere. It was not enough knowing what was going to happen and _when,_ you also had to counter each strike. Up to now, every mission to the Omega’s location had only ended with dread and defeat. He ducked his head, noticing that the hands he had planted on the table for support had tightened into fists.

After a while of more careful sketching, Cage swung his gaze to the back of the room. A plate of metal had caught his notice. It was Rita’s sword leaning against the far wall. Although he had seen it on posters dozens of times before, and even more times in action on the beach, he was not sure what to make of it. It was an odd choice of weapon to say the least, but despite its appearance, it had proven very efficient in the fight against the mimics. It was with swift and deadly accuracy she took down the enemy. 

Rita touched his shoulder lightly. She was looking at the left corner of the map. "Have you accounted for this?", she wanted to know. Cage looked down. He smudged out the broken line not leading anywhere, replacing it with a much clearer version. And this time, keeping his hand steady while writing it. They continued to trade small comments and observations and making small adjustments along the way as they did, but after a while, his eyes retraced their path to the back of the room. 

The design of the weapon seemed both familiar and not. A word lingered on the edge of his mind, but he could not quite grasp it. Cage returned his gaze back to Rita and the screen, his eyes mostly resting on her as she tried to memorize the plan for tomorrow. A fierce determination was reflected in her eyes, and he had no doubt she would fight until her last breath when the invasion began. In every time loop, she dove right into the awaiting chaos without hesitation (unlike him). 

It was in quiet times like these, when he felt like he was not the guy for the power… 

...that she should have it instead. A vision appeared in his mind. The handle of a sword protruded from a rock. It was hard to make out the shape of the sword as it was almost fully embedded, but it did bear a resemblance to a helicopter tail rotor. And then he saw Rita. She was drawing out the sword from the stone, and- 

"Cage?", Rita prompted, bringing him out of his reverie. Her expression was neutral, and she was looking directly at him. It was only then when he realized she had placed a hand on his shoulder.

_Oh._ She had probably asked him something important and was now waiting on him. He cleared his throat, feeling immediately guilty for not paying attention to their life-dependent planning even though time was scarce. “Sorry, you caught me off guard”, he said, waiting for the follow-up question. 

But she did not yield to his stock-answer. “Cage what is it?”, she said, pressing the matter further. 

“Nothing”, he shot back, trying to stave off the conversation to follow. Despite his best reassurances, she remained unmoved, her feet planted firmly on the ground. Cage gave her his most earnest look. ”Rita - it doesn’t matter”. 

In the end, he was the first to look away. Even with his back to her, he could feel her eyes on him. 

“Except that it obviously does”, she said at last. 

At this, Cage finally relented. He let out an audible sigh, and traced the border of the screen before answering, and it was obvious this came hard for him. “It’s futile. No matter what I do, we can’t get off that beach”

"Cage, you are valuable, she added, “Don’t play down your efforts”. 

“I know”, he said, continuing, “But I bet you didn’t get run over by a truck every tenth loop or so”. He let out a laugh that was more bitter than he had anticipated. It was an overstatement of course. The truck event had become very predictable with time, and he rarely failed his bold escape roll anymore. But that was not his point. 

She regarded him silently. “In the end, you will have made enough mistakes to fill a whole book - several books”. He saw her face quickly change into a frown as she finished her sentence. She was speaking from experience. He had to study the failures of each day, and most importantly, make adjustments after each time. She continued, “The plan seems good. I mean, it's comprehensive”.

“Maybe. But we are stranded on that beach - there’s no escape.” Cage crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. He felt the beginnings of a headache creep along the base of his neck as he tried concentrating on the overall perspective. He had not given up yet. 

Rita’s gaze flickered down, focusing on the densely marked map. The silence did not stretch on for long. She looked up, her face resolute. “Have we tried to charge right through?”

Cage gaped at her, not sure if he’d heard her right. “No way that would work”, he said, going over the scenario in his head. First of all, the area she had in mind was a heavily crowded part of the beach. Watching each other's back would be near impossible. And second-... Cage shook his head. “You think we can actually pull this off?” 

“Yeah. I do”, she said. Cage nodded slowly, but his expression was tight, indicating that he wasn’t fully committed. “And if it fails, then we know, and we are smarter”, Rita stressed. She had a point. They had not yet exhausted all the possibilities. It was at least worth a try. With a committed sigh, Cage pushed away from the wall and sauntered over to join her. 

His eyes went to the point she was indicating. Sure, they had never tried to take the shortest way. And that because of reasons. The idea felt absurd as he mulled over the possibility. A beeline for the nearest trailer park? He brought up another satellite image. And then another. What if they had been staring at the answer the whole time? 

“Rita…”, he began but she cut him off. “You use that same frenzy as when crushing those training mimics, and I think we’ll both be fine". The corners of her mouth quirked upwards in a slight smile, and he couldn’t help but to feel warmed by her trust. It was decided then. They were going to do the impossible. They were going to walk right through the fire. 

Cage wrenched the car door open with haste, not caring for the irreversible damage he caused as he did. It wasn’t like a thin sheet of steel would offer any protection anyway. He rummaged around for the car keys, chanting under his breath when he did not immediately find them. Against all odds, they had made it to the trailer park. Currently, everything was going according to plan. They had agreed to split up, Rita going for a minivan while he had made a break for a large blue car. Sweat was beading on his brow and he pricked up his ears, listening for any sounds indicating that Rita had been luckier than him in finding a working vehicle. The screeching in the distance was growing increasingly louder with each passing second, as if something big was closing in on them. 

Finally, he found the car keys hidden in the glove compartment. He licked his lips with cautious hope. The tense moment of darting and dodging through the battlefield was behind them. This was where the real challenge started. The trailer park was more deserted than a ghost town, with broken curb pieces and glass further adding to the mood. But still, he had identified several promising vehicles they could try next if... He stopped abruptly in his thoughts, understanding dawning on him. He sighed but continued nonetheless on the same train of thought. _If this current plan does not work out._

Cage waited a few seconds before turning on the ignition. The start seemed very promising because the whole car shuddered - but then his hope faltered. The engine gave a slow, remorseful whine and went stone cold. _Well…_ , he thought, his shoulders dropping down. _Not the blue car._ He rested his head on his hands. Cage stayed in the car for another minute, inventorying his surroundings in deep detail before stepping out. 

He did not have to wait long before the ground broke away, revealing a buried mimic. 

Instead of blinking up to a grey sky Cage awoke with a feeling of calm. The impossible had come to pass. Letting his eyes stay closed for a little longer, he pictured what their next step would be. He was gifted with a new chance to save the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the song Journey by Capo productions
> 
> As a quick side note, I'm a non-native English speaker, and even though I've proofread the work many times, there might still be some grammatical errors hidden in the text. If something leaps to the eye, please let me know and I will try to fix it :)


End file.
